Wellhead apparatus



Oct. 17, 1961 E. WILLIAMS ETAL 3,004,778

WELLHEAD APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 22, 1957 Oct. 17, 1961 E. WILLIAMS ETAL 3,004,778

' WELLHEAD APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 22, 1957 INVENTORS ATTORNEYS Oct. 17, 1961 L, E wlLLlAMs ETAL 3,004,778

WELLHEAD APPARATUS Filed Aug. 22, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Leonard f ///ms Marl/07 dones da/7 l/. enfw/igof? INVENTORS BY ff United States Patent 'a 3,004,778 WELLI-[EAD APPARATUS Leonard E. Williams, Marvin R. Jones, and John V. Pennington, Houston, Tex., assignors to Cameron Iron Works, Inc., Houston, Tex., a corporation of Texas Filed Aug. 22, 1957, Ser. No. 679,621 12 Claims. (Cl. 285-137) This invention relates broadly to apparatus for suspending two or more parallel tubing strings within a well.

More particularly, it relates to improvements in wellhead` apparatus of the general type shown in Pat. No. 2,794,505 `In the apparatus of the earlier patent, substantially sector-shaped tubing hangers are disposable in side-by side relation within the bore through a tubing head so as to permit gas lift valves and the like connected to the strings to be run into the well. At least one, and preferably each, of the hangers is supported against downward and lateral movement out of the position it occupies when so disposed so that it does not interfere with the running or pulling of other hangers.

HVIt is often desirable during completion of a well to lower a Vtubing string below its supported position within the tubing head and then raise it back to such position. Such a manipulation may be necessary, for example, in setting or unsetting a production packer. It may also be required in washing drilling mud out of the bottom of the well, or in taking a strain on the string to place it in tension. y

- An object of this invention is to provide apparatus of the type above described in which at least one, and

preferably each, of the han-gers may be lowered beneath and'then returned to its supported position within the bore of the tubing head separately from other hangers supported therein. v

Another object is to provide apparatus of the character defined in the foregoing object in which the hangers are supported in a predetermined rotative position within the tubing head. Y Y

A further object is to provide apparatus which is particularly well adapted for accomplishing one or both of the foregoing objects.

Other objects, advantages and features of this invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon a consideration of the written specification, the attached claims and the annexed drawings. Y

Y In accordance with the Vpresent inventiomrarns on the tubing head are extendible into the, bore ,therethrough each for supporting a tubing hanger against movement downwardly and laterally out ofthe position itV ccupies when disposed in side-by-side relation to other hangers supported within the bore. The ram for sup-Y porting each of said hangers is retractable from hanger supporting position, and the opening through the bore of the tubing head as well as the well casing beneath the hanger is of such size as to permit it to be lowered, upon retraction of said ram, beneath its supported position within the bore of the tubing' head separately from other hangers supported therein. More particularly, when the hangers are substantially sector-shaped, as inthe afore-Y mentioned patent, the rams are extendible into and retractable from engagement with intermediate portions of the curved sides of the hangers so.thatthe one hanger may ICC be manipulated without retracting the rams supporting the other hangers.

In a preferred form of the apparatus, the rams on the tubing head have upwardly and inwardly extending shoulders on their inner ends, and slots on the hangers have downwardly and outwardly extending shoulders seatable upon the shoulders of the rams to support each In the drawings, wherein like reference characters arev used throughout to designate like parts:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of part of a Wellhead including the apparatus of the present invention, with one of two tubing strings supported within the b ore of the tubing head thereof;

FIG. 2 is a crossesectional view of the apparatus shnwnl in FIG. 1, taken substantially along broken line 2-2 thereof;

FIG. 3 is another vertical sectional View of this apparatus with lthe other string lowered beneath its supported position within the tubing head;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the tubing hangers; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the innerl end of one of the rams on the tubing head.

Referring now particularly to the above described' drawings, the portion of the wellhead shown in FIG. 1

includes a casing head 10 having a side outlet 11 and..

a tapered bowl 12 within the bore therethrough. A

slip and seal assembly 13 of any suitable well known' construction is seated within the bowl 12 for suspending a casing 14 therefrom and sealing between the casing,

and the casing head 10.

The tubing head 15 of the apparatus of the present,V invention is provided with a lower flange 15a connected4 to the upper ange 10a of the casinghe'ad 10 by means of bolts 16 and is sealed with respect thereto by means A of an annular ring 17 received within oppositely facing grooves in the upper and lower llanges of the casing head and tubing head, respectively. The lower end 'of the bore 18 through the tubing head is enlarged at 19 to receive the upper end of the casing 14 so that the opening through the casing is at least substantially asY large 5 as that through the bore of the tubing head. More particularly, the lower end of the bore 18 is further enlarged at 20 to receive an annular ring 21 for sealing between the casing and the tubing head. Thus, as is conventional in the art, both the well bore and the annular space between the casing and the casing head are sealed with respect to one another as well as the connection between the tubing and casing heads.

The lower end of another wellhead member 22, which may be a blowout preventer of conventional construc-A tion, is connected to the upper flange 15b of the tubing head 15 by means of bolts 23 and sealed with respect thereto by means of an annular ring 24 received, as ini` the case of the annular ring 17, between oppositely fac-' ing grooves in the adjacent wellhead members. A ,bore 22a through the preventer 22 forms a full opening continuation of the well bore so that the tubing hangers to Patented oct. 17, 1961,

be described hereinafter may be lowered into supported positions within the bore I3 of the tubing head.

Except for the full opening through the bore 1-8 of the tubing head and the casing 14, the above-described apparatus is conventional in the wellhead art. In accordance with the novel concepts of the present invention, however, the tubing ha-ngers 2,5 are supported within the bore through the tubing head by means of a pair of rams 2.6 mounted `at vdiametrically opposite locations on the head for extension into and retraction from hanger supporting positions. More particularly, each of the hangers comprises a body which Vis substantially sector-shaped in transverse' cross-section and' which vhas a longitudinal opening 27 therethrough (FIG. l) forming a continuationorfthe opening through a tubing string 2S threadedly or otherwise connected to the lower end of the body for suspension within'the well bore and a tubular member 282z'sirnilarly connected to the upper end of the body for extension upwardly through the bore 22a "of the preventer.

rPhe inner end of each of the rams 26 is provided with `an upwardly and inwardly extending shoulder 29, and' each ofthe tubing hangers 25' is provided with a slot 3o on an intermediate portion of the curved side thereof having a downwardly and outwardly extending shoulder 31 yfor seating upon the shoulder 29 of one of the rams when it is extended into supporting position (see therightmost ram and hanger in FIGS. l, 2 and 3). Obviously, theupwardly facing component of the ram shoulder is engageable with the downward facing component of the hanger shoulder to prevent downward movement of the hanger supported thereby, and the outwardly facing component of such ram shoulder engages the inwardly facing component of such hanger shoulder to prevent lateral movement thereof. Furthermore, vif desired, each hanger may be supported by more than one ram. In any case, however, the ram or rams should preferably be arranged to engage each hanger symmetrically ofits curved side.v

As pointed out in said earlier patent, a production packer (not shown) may be passed through the bore of the tubing head before the hangers are lowered into supportingposition therein. Since the bore is full opening, itfwill laccommodate a packer of maximum size. Also, of course, it is the open bore through the tubing head bore and the Vabsence of the conventional bushing or false howl which permits the running of gas lift valves and the like on not only the iirst string to be run,.but also the secondv string. Thus, as best shown in FIG. 2, when the iirststring has been run and its hanger has been lowered' into .supportedposition on one of the rams, substantially one-half. of the tubing head bore is open for passage of thesecond string and its auxiliary equipment. Since the-first hanger. is supported against lateral movement, there will be no interference with running ofthe second stringand-its hanger. Furthermore, when a hanger `has been lowered onto a ram, the ram may be moved outwardly to `force the curved side of the hanger against the-.bore 18.

1 The upper side edges of the slot 30 of each hanger are defined by longitudinally extending shoulders 32. which abut with opposite sides of the ram to prevent rotation ofthe hanger within the bore. These shoulders also align the hanger within the bore as the slot is lowered overthe inner end of the ram. The lower side edges of the slot are dened by surfaces 33 flared outwardly and downwardly from the shoulders 32 to the lower edge of the. curved side of the ram to guide the hanger into its properly aligned position.

During running and pulling of the strings, the well pressure: is controlled in a'well known manner by apparatussuch as the blowout preventer 22 through-which thestrings are passed. Seal rings 34 of resilient material are, disposed about each of the hangers for engagement withonaanother. as well as the bore of the'tubing head,

when both hangers are supported therein, and the opening 27 through each of the hangers is provided with buttress-type threads 37 or the like to which a suitable back pressure valve 3S (shown in phantom in FIG. l) may be connected, so as to seal olf the well bore when the blowout preventer is replaced by a master valve or other wellhead member during completion of the well. Of course, these seal rings and back pressure valves also serve to seal olf the well bore when the master valve is replaced by the blowout preventer to permit pulling of one or both of the strings. Obviously, the sealing material of these rings may be activated by suitable means. such as shown in the aforementioned patent.

Obviously, upon lifting of a hanger to raise its shoulder 31 above the shoulder 29 on the inner end of the ram which supports it, the ram may be retracted out of the bore. Since the bore of the tubing head .and the well casing 1-4 are -full opening, the hanger may be lowered beneath its supported position, as indicated by the leftmost hanger in FIG. 4, for any oneof the reasonspreviously mentioned. As previously described, each of the hangers ris supported against movement laterally within the bore 1-8 so that the lowered hanger may subsequently be raised back to a position above its supported position, whereby its ramv may be extended into hanger supporting position within the slot 30. When the hanger is again lowered, its shoulder 31 will again engage with ram shoulder 29 to support the hanger in the manner previously described. f

` As previously noted, the disposition of the shoulders 31 on an intermediate portion of the curved side of the hangers enables each hanger to be manipulated in the manner above described without retracting the ram or rams for supporting the other hangers. In fact, in the construction shown, only one ram need be operated in.

the manipulation of either of the hangers.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, each of the hangers may be held down in its supported position by means of pins 35 mounted on the tubing Ahead for extension into and retraction out of a position engaging With an upwardly facing shoulder 36 on the hanger.v Obviously, any desired number'of pins may be provided for this purpose. As shown in the drawings, the shoulder 36 comprises a tapered corner on the upper edge of the curved sideof each hanger.

Referring now to the details of the above described apparatus, the surface of the slot 30 on each hanger intermediate the side edges thereof and the inner end of each ram 26 are curved toa radii corresponding to the radius of the outer surface on the curved side of each hanger.

l Obviously, this construction enables the retraction and of the boss and supports a shaft 42 having an inner threadprovide anoutwardly facing annular shoulder 51, and the,

ed end 43` connected to a threaded socket in the rear end of the ram body. The lower end of the ram is provided wlth a groove 45 guideably movable over a pin 46 connected to the plug 41 so as to hold the ram body against rotation within the opening 39. Thus, the ram is moved inwardly of the bore of the tubing head upon rotation of the shaft 42 in one direction, and is moved outwardly from the bore upon rotation of the shaft in the opposite direction.

As shown in FIG. l, the shaft 42 is surrounded by ball bearings I47 and an annular seal member 48 received within an opening through the lplug 41. This seal member is held in sealing engagement about the shaft by means of a gland nut 49. The outer end of the shaft 42 may be provided with a suitable part 50 for imparting rotation thereto.

The opening 39 through each boss 40 is reduced to oter diameter of the body of each ram is enlarged to provide an inwardly facing annular shoulder 52 for engagement with the shoulder 51 to limit inward movement of the ram.V More particularly, the shoulders 51 and 52 are so arranged as to locate the ram in an extended position for supporting a hanger and, at the same time, to permit the ram to vbe retracted a slight amount to force the curved side of the hanger against the bore, as previously mentioned. Reference, in this respect, is made to FIGS. l and 3 which show a small space between shoulders 51 and 52.

i Outward movement of each ram is limited by the engagement of the outer end of its body with the inner end of the plug 411.V Preferably, these surfaces are arranged tov engage when the inner end of the ram has been retracted from the bore 18 of the tubing head.

As shown in each of FIGS. l and 3, each hold down pin 35 is mounted Within the upper flange 15b of the tubing head for movement axially of the bore of the tubing head. Thus, an intermediate portion of the pin is threadedly connected at 53 within an opening 54 through. the flange so that the pin is movable inwardly and outwardly upon manipulation of the exterior part 55. This pin is also surrounded by an annular seal member 56 which is held in place within the opening 54 by a gland nut 57 threadedly connected into the outer end of said opening. The inner end 58 of the pin 35 is conical for engagement with the tapered shoulder 36 on the hanger which is held down thereby.

By way of review, during the completion of the well,

a production packer is run through the bore of the tubing head for setting at a desired level within the well casing. For this purpose, the rams 26 and pins 35 may be retracted in a manner previously described. However, upon running of the packer past the bore 18, one of the rams may be extended into hanger supporting position, and the hanger `for the first string 28 to be run into the well is lowered into supported position thereon. Obviously, the open bore permits the running of gas lift valves or the like on this rst string. The other ram may then be extended into a position to support the hanger for the second string in side-by-side relation to the first. With back pressure valves 38 disposed within the hangers and the seal rings 34 forming a seal between the hangers and the bore the pins 35 may be extended into positions to hold down the hangers and the preventer 22 may be replaced by a master valve.

At any time during this completion process, either of the strings may be lowered and then raised back to supported position for any one of the reasons previously mentioned. Thus, if it is extended, the pin 35 Ifor the hanger of the string to be manipulated is retracted to permit the hanger to be raised above its supported position an amount suiiicient to free the ram for retraction out of supporting position. After the hanger has been lowered beneath its supported position within the bore of the tubing head and then raised above such position, the ram is extended into supporting position and the hanger is lowered to permit its shoulder 31 to fit over shoulder 29 on the inner end of the ram. The pin 35 may then be extended into its position to hold the hanger down.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth, together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the apparatus.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown '6 in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted'as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. Wellhead apparatus, comprising a tubing head having a bore therethrough, a plurality of substantially sectorshaped hangers each having a longitudinal opening therethrough and being disposable in side-by-side relation within the bore for suspending tubing therefrom, a slot on an ,intermediate portion of the curved side of each of the hangers having a shoulder with a `downwardly yand an outwardly facing component, and rams on the tubing head each having a shoulder with an upwardly and an inwardly facing component on its inner end extendible into the bore to engage with Vthe shoulder on a hanger for supporting each of said hangers against movement downwardly and laterally out of the position it occupies when so disposed, said rarns being retractable out of engagement with the hangers to permit each of said hangers to be lowered beneath its supported position within the bore separately from other hangers supported therein.

2. Wellhead apparatus of the character dened in claimA 1, wherein said slots are also provided with shoulders for abutting with opposite sides of the rams.

3. Wellhead apparatus of the character defined in claim l, wherein each of the slots and the inner ends of the rams are curved to a radius corresponding substantially to that of the curved side of the hangers.

4. Wellhead apparatus of the character defined in claim 1, including means for limiting extension of the rams to a position for seating a hanger.

v5. A tubing hanger, comprising a body having a longitudinal opening therethrough and being substantially sector-shaped in transverse cross-section, and a slot on the curved side of the body, said slot having an upper edge defined by a downwardly and outwardly extending tapered shoulder extending substantially transversely of the body, and side edges dened by shoulders extending substantially longitudinally downwardly from the opposite ends of said tapered shoulder and then flaring outwardly and downwardly to the lower edge of said curved side of the body.

6. A tubing hanger of the character defined in claim 5, wherein the surface of said slot intermediate said side edges is curved substantially concentrically of the outer surface of said curved side of the body.

7. Wellhead apparatus, comprising a tubing head having a bore therethrough and openings therein intersecting the bore, a plurality of hangers each having a longitudinal opening therethrough and being disposable in sideby-side relation within the bore for suspending tubing therefrom, rams on the tubing head each movable Within one of said tubing head openings, means for moving each ram between a position extending into the bore to support a hanger when so disposed and a position retracted with respect to the bore, the bore being of such size as to permit each hanger, upon retraction of the ram which supports it, to be lowered beneath its supported position separately of each other hanger supported in the bore, and means on each ram and the hanger supported thereon for holding said hanger against downward and lateral radial movement independently of each other hanger and ram.

8. Wellhead apparatus of the character dened in claim 7, wherein said last-mentioned means comprises a shoulder on the side of each hanger having a downwardly facing component and an inwardly facing component, and a shoulder on the inner end of each ram having an upwardly facing component and an outwardly facing component for engagement with the downwardly and inwardly facing components of the shoulder of the hanger supported thereby.

9. Wellhead apparatus of the character defined in claim 8, wherein the shoulder on each hanger is tapered downwardly and outwardly and the shoulder on each ram is tapered upwardly and inwardly.

edaljove the casing head and-having abore theretlirbigli and`-openings therein interseyotingy the l'ore, a plurality ofl hangers each having a longitudinal opening"therethroughl anduleing disposible in side-by-side relation Within -the bore foisuspending tubingth'erefrom, rams ontli'etubin'g` headeach movable Within one ofs'aidtubing' heado'penl ings, means for movingeach.` ram' between alp'ositionl extending'intol the bore'to supporta-1' Vhanger Whenso disposedl andl a position'retracted with respectv to the bore,

bth saiilore andeas'ingbeing'f suoli sizeasto'permit each: Hanger, uponv retraction of' the ram-Which supports it; to-be -loweredbeneath its supported position separately of each other'hang'er supported `in the bore, and rnes on each 'ramandhafnger supported thereon` forholding saidA hanger againstr downward andv lateral-v radial movement independently of each other hanger and ran.

References Cited-in the fue oflthizs patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 17,939,679'Y Broussard Feb; 5, 1 93-5 2,054,335 Beniel( et al; Sept. 15', 1936 2,086,431` PeIiCk et al. Ju1y` 6, 193,7` 2,213,503 Peniket al, Sept'.,3; 1940 2,335,355l 'Penick et al; Nov. 31), 1943 2,486,3048` MvclCray et al. Oct. 25,1949 V2,552,901 Miller May 15, 1951 2,794,505 Allen .Tune 4, 19.57 2,830,665' BurnsetA al. Apr. 155, 1958 Anaire Apr. 26, 1960v ai... M.- 

